Bird stories to tell the social and environmental changes: a comparative approach in four countries

When people talk about their environment and how it has changed recently, they often refer to some sets of species seen as indicators of changes. What kind of species is used for this purpose? What are their commonalities in different environmental contexts? How this knowledge can help understanding socio-ecological systems dynamics? To tackle these questions, the ANR PIAF project compared free-lists collected from informants (experts and non-experts) sampled along a gradient of anthropisation including protected -rural and urban areas in four countries (Cameroon, France, USA, and Zimbabwe). Free-lists of birds, i.e. lists of birds spontaneously cited by informants, were analysed based on the life-history traits of the mentioned species. The analyses reveal common patterns across the different countries as to the type of birds cited, though they also relate to the social attributes of the informants. These patterns provide us with useful information about which groups of bird species should be used to monitor environmental changes as perceived by local people. The combination of free-listing with ecological life-traits database is a very promising method, both to link scientific and indigenous, and sociological and ecological understanding of ecosystem transformations. Through this project we aim to better understand local ecological knowledge and use this to generate a way to engage people in ecological transitions